Ring borders crossword clue
25 Down · WSJ Crossword, September 16, 2026 · 5 letters
Explanation
The answer to “Ring borders” is ROPES. It appears as 25 Down in the Wall Street Journal crossword of September 16, 2026, a Wednesday puzzle titled “Things Are Looking Up” by Jackson Musker, and it fills 5 squares running top to bottom from row 5, column 13 of the 15×15 grid.
A plural clue takes a plural answer, which is why the entry ends in S. The entry begins with R and ends with S, and contains 2 vowels and 3 consonants. If you are working from the crossings, two or three confirmed letters from the Across entries should be enough to lock it in. Wednesday puzzles sit mid-week on the difficulty curve, so expect the rest of this grid to be pitched at the same level.
Past appearances
ROPES has not appeared as an answer in any other WSJ puzzle in our index, which runs from May 2026 onward. It will be listed here the next time it turns up.